How To Tell A Persuasive Story

WHY IS STORYTELLING A GOOD WAY TO PERSUADE?

When you want another person to understand your perspective, believe that your memories are accurate, or be persuaded that your preferences should be followed, it is very useful to provide this information in the form of a narrative or story.

A narrative or story is distinguished from other forms of communication, such as tables, graphs, mathematical equations or lists, because it is “told” by someone. This adds an additional layer of complexity and six requirements to be used effectively:

1. It is about people who have reasons for their actions and connects intention to action.

2. It accounts for or explains all the known or undeniable facts.

3. It is told by a credible witness.

4. It is supported by details.

5. It follows common sense and contains no implausible elements.

6. It is organized in a way that makes the next fact increasingly more likely.
   

WHY DOES A STORY NEED TO CONNECT INTENTION TO ACTION?

When describing a situation that includes people, there must be an explanation for the actions that they take. It is generally not persuasive to simply describe a series of events – that person did that thing, then another thing, and then another thing is not a story, it is a chronology.

For example, saying that an owner:

1. Wrote to the council asking for permission to alter common property.

2. Ten days later requested a hearing with the council.

3. Thirty days later altered the common property.

Is not particularly persuasive because there is no statement about what caused the person to alter the common property.

Contrast that with the following example:

Trevor wrote to the council asking for permission to change the flooring in his kitchen because he believed that it was common property because it was the original flooring. After doing some research, Trevor realized that he may have been mistaken about the requirement for permission because although the flooring was original he thought it was not common property. He then requested a hearing from the council asking for them to decide whether written permission was required to change the flooring in his kitchen. A member of the council called him and told him that the council agreed that he was entitled to a hearing, but that they did not require him to receive written permission before change the kitchen flooring. With this new information, Trevor contracted with a flooring company to replace the flooring.

WHY DOES A STORY NEED TO ACCOUNT FOR OR EXPLAIN ALL KNOWN OR UNDENIABLE FACTS?

A narrative or story is generally unpersuasive if the audience is unsure about how important facts are addressed. If the audience thinks “Ok, but what about...” the story is less likely to be persuasive. This is sometimes referred to as a plot hole.

Continuing the previous example, imagine if there was another fact that was not addressed – that Trevor told another owner, before he asked permission to change his flooring, that he had signed a contract with a company to replace the flooring.

This additional fact makes the explanation for Trevor’s actions less persuasive unless it is accounted for in the story.

In our example, this fact may be consistent with his actions. For example, perhaps Trevor signed the contract and then when the contractor went to his strata lot for a final measurement the contractor asked Trevor whether he had permission from the council. This was what triggered Trevor to ask permission to change the flooring. It is important, when constructing and editing a story, to make sure you place yourself in the perspective of your audience and address their expectations about the thoroughness of the story.

It is important when using narrative or story to make sure that you have considered all the known or undeniable facts before you tell the story.

WHY DOES A STORY NEED TO BE TOLD BY CREDIBLE WITNESSES?

A narrative or story is told by someone or multiple people. The people that are telling the story must be credible witnesses and that credibility is usually connected to a direct experience of the events of the story.

For example, a story that relies on a person who knows about the events because “people say” or “I heard that” is less persuasive than an actual witness.

For the previous example, if that story was told by Trevor it would be more persuasive because Trevor can describe his motivations from his personal perspective. If that story was told by a property manager, who heard it from a member of the council, who heard it from a neighbour, who overheard a conversation between Trevor and his contractor then it would be much less persuasive.

WHY DOES A STORY NEED TO BE SUPPORTED BY DETAILS?

In addition to accounting for all the known facts, a persuasive story is supported by details that are consistent with the usual experience of people.

Returning to the example, if Trevor described his reaction to the contractor asking him if he had permission to change the flooring then an audience would be more likely to be persuaded that conversation occurred. Similarly, if he described his relief or what he was doing when he was told by a council member that he did not need permission, that would be more persuasive.

The opposite is true, if there are no supporting details then the narrative is less persuasive. If Trevor could not remember his reaction when asked if he had permission or could not recall what he was doing when he got a call from a council member, that is less persuasive. People expect that important events are remembered – not only regarding the specific parts of that event but the surrounding circumstances and context.

However, there is another aspect that should be considered. When an event is not considered to be important when it occurs, but later takes on unexpected importance, it is more persuasive that a person does not remember a lot of surrounding details. For example, if it is somehow important that there was a green truck parked in a Strata parking lot, it is likely more persuasive for an owner to say only that they remember seeing that truck last week during the day instead of providing too much supporting detail. In this type of situation, extensive supporting details may imply that the memory is reconstructed or invented.

WHY DOES A STORY NEED TO FOLLOW COMMON SENSE?

A narrative or story is more persuasive when the audience can imagine that they would act in a similar way in a similar situation. There is a risk that a narrative becomes less persuasive when the explanation for events does not follow common sense even if there is an explanation.

Using the example of the additional fact that Trevor told another owner, before he asked permission to change his flooring, that he had signed a contract with a company to replace the flooring. If, in an attempt to be persuade an audience that this did not occur, Trevor said that when he made that statement he was mistaken about what room he was going to replace the flooring in and there was no signed contract that would likely be unpersuasive because it is not a common experience to be incorrect about that sort of detail. Conversely, it is much more consistent with common sense for Trevor to say that he had not considered whether he required permission until the question was raised by the contractor.

WHY DOES A PERSUASIVE STORY NEED TO BE ORGANIZED TO MAKE THE NEXT FACT INCREASINGLY MORE LIKELY?

While telling a story out of sequence may be great for entertainment purposes, such as in the movie Memento, it is not a good strategy to tell a persuasive story. Similarly, telling a story that goes onto tangents or includes extraneous information also can be less persuasive.

When telling a story for the purpose of persuasion, it is very useful to keep the audience focused on what you want them to understand or believe. 

In the above example, if there were a lot of extra facts about Trevor’s vacation, or his employment, or his friend that had seven children, it would dilute the parts of the story that it is important for the audience to be paying attention to.

It is a useful technique, when telling a story, to put yourself in the perspective of the audience. If the audience is asking themself “what does this have to do with the story” then your story is less likely to be persuasive even if the point you are making will eventually be perceived as relevant.

Linear and direct narrative structure is the best way to be persuasive and this structure can be highlighted by providing an overview and “sign posts”.

STORYTELLING IS A GREAT WAY TO BE PERSUASIVE, WHEN DONE CORRECTLY

When you want another person to understand your perspective, believe that your memories are accurate, or be persuaded that your preferences should be followed it is very useful to provide this information in the form of a narrative or story.

However, a narrative or story must include these six requirements in order to be considered a persuasive version of events and not a product of imagination or an attempt to explain actions with the “benefit of hindsight”.